The Colours of Her Heart Stuns Audience
To continue the theme of storytelling, the South Asia Center
hosted renowned Bharatanatyam dancer, Mallika Sarabhai, and her dance troupe,
Darpana, on April 12, 2019 at the Everson Museum of Art. 
This dance-theatre-multimedia production used the haunting
Urdu and English lyrics of British musician Samia Malik, the choreographic and
directorial skills of Mallika Sarabhai, and the moving lighting effects
designed by Yadavan Chandran to dramatize six women’sheart-wrenching stories
that were based on the lived experiences of the dancers. Some of the pieces
touched upon the stigma of being a woman in the performing arts. Others touched
on sexual abuse and rape.
Given the #MeToo movement and recent media attention to
issues of gendered violence, the production was timely and thought-provoking,
if not at times disturbing. In any case, it made an indelible impact on the
audience.
This performance was made possible through co-sponsorships
from across campus and throughout the community including the College of Arts
and Sciences’ Ray Smith Symposium, the Ford-Maxwell Professor of South Asian
Studies, the Everson Museum of Art, Departments of Art and Music Histories and
Women’s and Gender Studies, Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, Maxwell
School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Indian Community Religious and
Cultural Center (ICRCC), and Syracuse University. 